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Siths and Stones ...
Wide white sand beaches are bordered by tall tropical trees, primarily pula, with thick underbrush save where maintained paths cut through. The strip of foliage is not wide, only a dozen meters or so, but serves well to create the illusion of seclusion along much of the beach. Rocky outcroppings line the shore, cut by wind and water into the pale cliffs and turning certain areas into clusters of small caves, many underwater at high tide. Depending on the level of the sea, many areas are secluded from those to either side with rocky outcroppings stretching out to, and often into, the water. To walk the beach along the length of Orlaenon requires an exceptionally low tide and no qualms about getting wet. Soft lapping waves roll off of pure blue sea to climb the sands and dampen them, turning them a rich buff shade. Small shells, sea creatures, and ocean-polished stones are few but lovely and nestle into the sand beneath the caress of the waves. Sea birds wheel and dip in the sunlight while the morning and evening are the domain of the cason hawks. Occasionally the water leaves something foul along the strand, but nature deals with its dispatch neatly. It is easy to see in this seaside paradise why Meditersar, spirit of the water, is celebrated throughout Orlaenon. In the middle of a crisis, resorts are often a place people don't have a desire or the ability to go. Taking advantage of that lack of cover, Grand Inquisitor Venger flies his TIE Avenger to a nearby field garrison setup for Imperial Forces. Upon landing he dispatches a pack of Nek battle dogs, tracking the scent of the Ambassador's daughter, handled by Imperial Stormtroopers with orders to capture not kill. For the Jedi, more traditional fare as Probot Droids are launched from the Inquisitor, seeking the tell tale signs of habitation where none should exist, not with the planet in the current state it is in. This gives the Grand Inquisitor the time he needs to prepare for hunting the Jedi, primarily taking one of the Aratech Z-74 speeder bikes from one of the scouts in order to pursue his prey while he waits for a response from either hounds or droids. The Jedi is not just sitting waiting idle for capture, but instead continues to hatch a plan to help him and Gabi escape from the planet. Each day Leo goes near the various outposts of the Empire to await the ship that may serve as their ride. Watching from a distance, the man finally sees what he is looking for, though he does have a bad feeling about it. At the sight of the Avenger, he begins the jaunt back to the girl to begin their departure. Dusk would be falling soon. Sitting with her knees drawn into her chest near the mouth of the cave, Gabi wistfully tracks the airborne acrobatics of seabirds, so very far away. So very free. So very unlike herself, sequestered away from the rest of humanity, subsisting on molluscs and rain water. Heaving a very adolescent sigh, she stretches her legs out before her, flexing her toes a bit to restore feeling before climbing to her feet and peering over the edge to the jagged slope below. Should she chance another dash to the pools? Tide is rising rather swiftly... The distinctive whine of the Probot's repulser engines can be heard as the droids zoom over the area, scanning for heat, power, and life signs along the beaches and hills that make up the Orleanon coastline, reporting back to the Imperial station anything they might find. Along the beach itself, a pair of Nek battle dogs strain at their leashes as a pair of Stormtroopers almost running to keep up with them, as they try and get the scent of the young girl. As he makes his way back to the cave, Leo lets his gaze sweep the surroundings for anything odd. It is then that he notices in approaching the beach from a slightly more direct route that the distinctive glint of light on white armor is quickly making its way toward the cave. Moving with all speed, the pilot breaks into an all-out sprint knowing Gabi is in significant danger. Set into a cliff face, her current point of look-out has a very limited radius to either side. Her view of the rocky shore, surf, and sea is unrivaled, completely unobstructed, but only margins of the friendlier side of approach are visible. The sparse patches of purple of grasses rustle continuously in the breeze, and beyond them...she is blind. Unless, of course, she were to climb down for a swim. Which, given the heat of the evening, is ever-so tempting. Another sigh. Turning away from the wind and beauty, Gabi fixes her eyes once more on the interior of their home. Smoldering coals, an array of drawings etched into the floor...she smiles, considering how very primitive it's become. Skipping forward, the child bends to pack up the things she'd unpacked earlier. Must always be ready... The high flying probot's sensors detect movement as the Jedi runs towards the beach, sending the data back to it's master as it drops lower to investigate further. The droid drops to ground level, it's repulsor engines humming as it tried to follow the Jedi, even going as far as arming it's defense blaster, The Nek Hounds seem to be on the trail of something making their way towards the rocky outcropping on the beach, they hounds begin to bey out an audible call, alerting their handler. The Stormtrooper draws his blaster, ready for trouble. The blaster strapped to his waist does not remain holstered for hold. Sensing something wrong, his adrenaline heightens as he sees the probot trailing him complicating the stormtrooper situation ahead of him. Having little option and little time to think, Leo fires off a few shots behind him to disrupt the droid's direct path. His attention then becomes fully focused on the girl in the cave and the Imperials approaching her location. Gabi's movements grow still, hairs prickling along her nape as the seabreeze carries an eerie sound into the depths of the cave. It echoes around, drifting from bend to bend, swoops, and vanishes into cavernous pits near the rear of the cave system. What, in Orleanon's mystery, is that? Trembling with instinctual fear, the girl creeps towards the entrance on her belly, dragging her bag behind, to seek the source. Darth Venger throws his leg over the Speeder Bike and flicks a switch powering up the powerful engine on the bike before grabbing the hand grips and launching it forward. He roars out the gate, his dark roves blowing in the wind behind him as he leaves the garrison heading towards the signals sent by his 'scouts'. The first blaster bolt whizzes by the oval dome of the Probot, causing it to fire back, a steady burst of bright green blaster bolts aimed in the direction of the Jedi. The Second bolt fired scorches its armor causing it to pause momentarily as it adjusts it's pursit. On the beach, the Nek hounds reach the base of the hill, the trooper with them looking for a way up towards the outcropping that conceals the cave, scanning with the optics in his helmet, on the lookout for concealed firing positions or guards. The laserfire from the probot does score a grazing against Leo's left arm with the green bolt causing the man to grit his teeth through the pain. His focus, however, remains set ahead. While the troopers look up, it would seem they have forgotten to give some focus to what is around them. Aiming first for the hounds and then the men, the Jedi lets bolts fly from his blaster to make himself the target instead of the girl. Blaster fire. *That* sound is unmistakable. The other? Gabi starts to pant, anxiety level swiftly on the rise as she cannot visually locate the maker of the howls. Time to go! Frenzied hands paw at the silty floor near the cave mouth, uncovering a little cache of crude, weaponry prototypes that the feisty child had engineered in her spare time. Sticks, washed ashore and baked in the sun, are topped with bundles of rosy spines, meticulously threaded and wrapped together by strips of gelatinous, congealing weed. They range from several inches long to almost a meter. It's wrong, violence, but... "Sometimes even the smallest of creatures gets upset," Gabi whispers to herself. Carefully collecting the envenomated, pokey sticks into her palms, she tucks the small and medium-sized delicately into her pack before slinging it over her head and shoulder. The largest remains held fast in her hand as she emerges into the daylight and peers around the corner of the ledge, towards the hill. A painful wail is heard as one of the Nek hounds catches a blaster bolt in the chest, causing it to cry out before collapsing, this causes the other to let out an enraged howl. The Stormtrooper releases the leash and the Nek battle dog starts to charge the source of the blaster fire. Distracted from the matter at hand, the Stormtrooper raises his blaster rifle and begins to unleash a bolt of fire at the unseen figure firing. *Control this is TK-1456, report enemy contact at coordinates 8.75321, request backup!* The Probot droid continues to stalk the Jedi, raising its sensor dome to scan for other life forms nearby, the defense blaster swiveling around trying to draw a bead on the jedi before firing again. Darth Venger marks the coordinates from the trooper on his nav system, banking the speeder bike towards the distress signal, *I am less than a minute out, have you found the child, Sergeant?* He speaks into the comlink integrated into his armor, *She is your target, if you see the Jedi, save him for me* Time seems to slow down for a moment around Leo as he is fired upon both from behind and ahead. In a moment of inspiration, the man drops to the ground at the last possible moment hoping to pull a stunt like that in the holovids of the enemy laser-fire hitting their own side. As he hits the floor, he unleashes bolts from his blaster at the charging animal knowing his time of survival is probably running short. A gasp draws from the girl's lungs as she gets her first glimpse of the assaulting miniatures below. "LEO!" Gabi screams to the little, brown robe racing towards the little white figure and what she presumes are the makers of the howling. Anger overriding her fear, the protected tries to become the protector and shuffles to the edge of the cliff face. "Come and get me, you nerf-noggin!" she hoots, cupped palms aiming to carry the sound against the wind. She'd made this climb a few times before, once even in the dark. Today is no different...just needs to happen a little more quickly. One leg goes over, followed soon by the other as her bare toes grasp the coralline rock and find balance. The 'spear' is moved to her right hand, so her stronger, left arm may hold her weight as she begins the descent towards the rising tide. A diabolical sort of smile twists the preteen's lips, and determination sets fire to her heart. Already, she can smell the briny mist, cast up from the rocks. It smells like home, and it will be sad to leave it. But momma needs their help. Obstacles must be eliminated. If it were a holo-vid, the Probot and Stormtrooper would have killed each other, however in reality, the Probot's aim is much worse than the troopers and his bolts fly off into the air. The trooper's blaster bolts however slice through the weak Probot's armor causing it to detonate as it's self-destruct triggers to keep it from being captured. The trooper is called off from pursing the Jedi, turning his attention back towards the hill and the girl, spotting her as she attempts to climb down the rocks. He flicks the selector switch on his rifle to stun and takes aim, firing a brilliant blue ring of charged energy towards her. A charging Nek hound embodies all of the viciousness of the natural world, it's muscular legs and squatty frame keeping it moving fast and low to the ground. The blaster bolts flying by as the beast agilely slips to the right and left, its jaw clenched tight as it gets closer and closer to the Jedi, leaping when it gets in range. Darth Venger, reaches up with an armored glove and releases the clasp on his cloak, lest it get caught into the engine turbine and serve as a reason not to wear cloaks on speeder bikes. The black woolen material sent tumbling in the turbulent slipstream created by the speeding bike. His attention focuses again on the beach, spotting the white armored trooper in the distance, he gives the speeder bike more throttle, letting the force guide his actions as he closes on the melee. As the creature leaps, the iconic blade of the Order that Leo is apprenticed into comes to life as the man comes up to his knees. For the few moments that he is airborne, the creature has given up his advantage of agility. The emerald beam hums as it slices through the air toward the creature. However, Leo does not stop as the stormtrooper becomes his new focus. Yelling out, "Faster!" the Jedi hopes that the stun bolt will miss and give him the precious moments he needs to dispatch of the Imperial soldier before another shot can be fired. Gabi flinches, pressing her face into the gritty surface as something not friendly zips past her fingers. Oh, the benefits of being small and nimble. Not smiling as boldly as she was prior to being shot at, however, the girl shimmies aside, rounding the curvature to put a little limestone barricade between herself and the trooper's current vantage point. "I hope you and your stupid dog can swim!" She shouts, mostly to the leathery reptigulls that flap noisily around, nesting sight disturbed by all the action. Her pace downward resumes, towards the smattering of tidal pools, increasingly engulfed by the encroaching tide. Almost there... The Stormtrooper adjusts his aim and fires again, holding his ground as his own targeting computer tells him that the Sith Lord is approaching rapidly, he continues to focus his attention on the girl, shifting to pursue her towards the surf line. "Stop where you are!" the trooper orders in a human less tone emitted from the speakers of his helmet, "You are under arrest by order of the Empire!" The Second Nek hounds life force is extinguished as the green blade cuts through it's dark brown hide. The creatures own mass working against it as what was one dog lands in two large pieces of flesh, bone and muscle. Darth Venger counts seconds, the igniting light saber showing up as a verifiable target. He flips a switch on the handlebars causing the auto-blaster to spin around and track the light saber, firing off a dozen rapid-fire blasts of energy, he has little desire in killing the Jedi from this distance, merely slowing him down until the Sith can arrive. In some way having known the danger that looms behind him, the scattered blaster bolts just affirm that the Jedi is in deep trouble. This forboding increases exponentially as Leo senses just how dark in the Force the other man is. Yet, at the same moment, the man seems to be at peace. The fact that he has not heard a thump from Gabi hitting the ground reassures him that she is out of danger's way for a moment. And, being a smart girl, she will be able to elude capture for a time. He also has a moment of inspiration as he notices how the attacking man arrived... A shriek pierces the air. The little tomboy releases her one-handed grip on the rock, three meters shy of reaching her goal. Her figure arcs backwards and falls, maybe a bit too controlled to be tumbling into the unconscious realm. Still, the splash between some dangerous-looking crags is not a graceful one. Froth from the long-stagnating water swirls and sprays as a wave crests over one of the crags and douses the deep pool with renewing force. As it recedes, the ancient reef remains as still and quiet as before. Does life stir therein? The fossilized coral remains mute on the subject, a silent sentinel braced for the next wave. Darth Venger turns his Bike towards the glowing green blade. The auto-cannon still barking out a volley of bright red blaster bolts towards the Jedi, the Sith Lord feeling the anger and rage boiling under his skin as he pulls the Dark Side of the force to him. Muscles tense as he zooms into range, pushing himself from the bike and flipping in mid-air to land between the Jedi and the shoreline, the bike careening off into the distance before stopping. The Sith Lord draws a lightsaber from his belt and igniting it in a dark red flash of color, "Jedi, your time in this world is coming to a close, surrender and I will give you a clean death." His voice is dark and inhuman, the modulator in his mask giving an almost metallic tone to his words. The Trooper looks towards the surf where the young girl dove into the water, flipping to different spectrums of IR and UV to see if he can detect her under the water. His blaster rifle sweeping as he waits for her to come up, *Sir she dove into the water.* He reports to his master. Taking slow steps back, Leo keeps his lightsaber angled across his body. The splash of the girl hitting the water causes his eyes to widen in surprise, before narrowing toward the Sith in front of him. "I never knew mercy was in a Sith's vocabulary," says the man as he attempts to suppress the anger that threatens to well up inside. ''It's dark, down here, beneath the surface. '' The sun continues to sink nearer to its resting place, hovering just half a width above its choppy bed on the horizon. Gabi, suspended in a watery womb with the turbidity of mud, is cast into shadow by the cliff above. Her eyes pop open, arms and legs flailing to stabilize her position enough to gather proper bearings. One hand still clenches that spear and her pack floats alongside her, strap tugging beneath her armpit. She follows it, up, and takes a greedy swallow of air before examining the stone giants surrounding her, protecting from mortal eyes. "You only know the misguided ramblings of Skywalker and his ilk, they have deceived you in a great many things, Jedi" Darth Venger raises his saber up in front of him, "But, it does not have to be this way, bend your knee, it will be quick and painless, then the girl can be reunited with her mother!" He strides forward, pointing the tip of his blade at Leo, "Or you can raise your blade and give me what I really want, it has been a long time since I have buried one of your order, the last was the Jedi Master Aurejin." The Trooper continues to scan, the rocks and waves interfering with his sensors, *She disappeared Sir.* The trooper continues to talk over the comlink frequency. He flips the light on his helmet, scanning the surf line, looking for any nook or cranny that the young girl could be hiding in. Leo does not let his blade shift from the defensive position. "And it has been some time for me since I last vaped an Imp in space," replies the man. "I am surprised that a Sith was sent to find us considering things seem to be changing very much with this new leader of the Empire. Your kind seems to have lost their footing on controlling the galaxy." Continuing to circle around, the Jedi now has the man's speeder a little distance behind him. Knowing she's far from safe, here in this aquatic playpen, Gabi paddles around to face the cliff. She recounts her fall, looking to the crag to her right. It is what separates her from the bad people. And the good one. Sputtering as a dip then swell within the pool fills her gaping maw with seawater, Gabi claws desperately towards the opposite rock, which ought to get her one step closer to finding the submerged cave system further along the coast. *SPLOOSH* Another wave crashes overhead, reaching higher than the last. It pounds gallons of water into her skull, generating another violent surge within the pool. The girl goes under, tumbling at the will of the mighty sea god. Her knees and elbows bash the shards of bivalve beds. Her right cheek grazes the fiery touch of organisms unappreciative of her intrusion, and is set aflame. She kicks to the surface again, coughing, and clings to her rock of salvation. With a grunt, she hefts the bulk of her pack onto the jagged slope and jams the butt of the spear into a notch for leverage, her bloodied, left foot onto a coralline ledge even with the ocean's surface. And it's there she rests, wedged in tightly to weather the next wave and hide just a moment longer. Her little muscles begin to quake. No more smiles for the ambassador's daughter. Only tired sobs and a little mewl for her Jedi friend. There is something unnerving in the Sith Lord's laughter, it is both forced and un-natural, as if it were merely an affectation or an impersonation of a laugh, forced through the voccoder it is hollow and inhuman. "For we are not in space, whelp, nor has the Empire lost its footing." He waves a hand towards the sky, the hulls of the Imperial ships in orbit hang in the sky like artificial stars, "Your Republic is doomed, perhaps you are too naive to see it yet." He lashes out with the saber, testing the young Jedi's defenses, "How can you protect a galaxy when you can't even save a little girl." The Trooper tromps through the water, walking towards the rocks, using them to get some elevation and sweeps once again with the infra-red, looking for the heat sources that betray mammals in the cold waters of the oceans, *I can't find her my lord* The red blade is batted aside by Leo, but it is not done with an overly high level of grace or mastery. "And yet, your man is unable to find her. I would say I am doing pretty well at saving her," replies the Jedi with a confidence that most likely hides the anxiety and fear he is actually experiencing. Taking a deep breath, the man recalls all that he has learned both about the Force and lightsaber combat. Even that will most likely not save him. Gabi begins to shiver as the next wave washes through her possible grave. The idea had come to surface, these last few minutes, that she might very well die in here. Her plan was bad. Her lips surely are blue. This much, at least, she's certain to be true. Perhaps Leo's mumbo jumbo talk about peace of mind and soul really did have some cred. Rubbing angrily at her snotty nose with bruised and swelling knuckles, the girl sucks in a few deep breaths, trying to calm her own nerves while looking up at the hurdle. "I can climb it," she affirms. But will they see her? Most definitely. She had no choice. Eventually, the rising tide would lift her up and over anyway. Might as well make a break for it when there was still some solid surfaces on the other side to scamper across. Dipping her rear low, Gabi bounces to a count of three... (And then we paused for sleep and I forgot to log when we started up again. Hopefully someone else got it and can be inserted here...)